destash

Once again I am clearing through my beads. These lovelies are all available now over on Folksy

Postage is £1.00 regardless of ho many items you buy. Go on you know you want to add to your bead stash and help me clear some of mine ;)

Lyonesse

When I set out for Lyonesse,
A hundred miles away,
The rime was on the spray,
And starlight lit my lonesomeness,
As I set out for Lyonesse,
A hundred miles away.
~Thomas Hardy

Okay so I have had these beads by Rachel Dawes in my stash for ages, but from the day they arrived they were going to be Lyonesse and they were going ot be teamed with amethyst and freshwater pearls.

It sounds strange but somedays the beads just talk to you, they already know what they want to be. So finally I have made them into a bracelet and a pair of earrings. I hope you like them? I certainly do.

They are available now over in my Folksy shop.

destash time

Ideas and designs change and yet the amount of beads just increases. Those of you who make jewellery know what I am mean and probably like me you have oooodles of beads you are not using at the moment. When the now 4months old (where has the time go?) pickle was on the way I lost my "studio" as it had to become the guest room and currently my beads are strewn all over the dining room table. This means I am in the dog house and need to do some serious clearing out and tidying up. So, I have joined the April Show-ers over on Folksy and am trying to list an item a day. This is mainly going to be destash items, all in new unused condition. All bought with the idea of using them at some point but a few months even years later they are still there bagged up waiting for me to work some magic.

So, here are a few items I've already listed. Some hilltribe silver flower charms - aren't they gorgeous. Why not head over to my Folksy destash shop and grab yourself some lovely beadies at good prices. I need to clear some space ;)

Sea Foam

Gorgeous beads by EvaBean now made into a stunning jewellery set. The lampwork are a beautiful sea green with an organic insert. I continued the sea theme using hiltribe silver beads with a bubble pattern and faceted aventurine rondelles to compliment the lampwork.

I am really pleased with the pendant which features a wave of handwired aventurine rondelles dangling from the lampwork focal. The pendant comes with either a 16inch or 18inch silver curb chain. All are available over in my folksy shop. I hope you like them.

It's been a while

but here I am back again and hopefully I won't be away so long next time.
Where have I been? well last November I was looking like this....and that was two weeks before I had my second child another boy.

Thankfully they did a c-section as giving birth to my first wasn't great, he got stuck in my pelvis coming out amoungst other things. He was 8lb 3 and this one....well a good 10lb 6 or if you do the conversion correctly nearer to 10lb 7. Poor love, they even had to use forceps to get him out despite the c-section.

Anyway, my little man is now 13 weeks old, today to be precise and we are finding our feet. It is interesting to say the least getting them both ready and out the door for 8.30 for the school run. Even though I am a routine type person, he doesn't have a routine and I am feeding him what he wants when he wants and this is causing a few issues as I have to top him up everynow and again so we can do this with my eldest but we are getting there. Compared with his brother who at this age was downing 8oz bottle of hungry baby formula every 4 hrs on the dot he isn't so bothered about his milk and is causing me a bit of brain ache...but we are working it out slowly.

Enough about the baby, more importantly Beady Pool news.

My website is closed at the moment as I am having difficulties finding the time to update it but my jewellery is still for sale over on Folksy. I am also trying to slowly tidy through my bead stash so I am selling some of my beads which don't suit my current designs in my other Folksy Shop. There are some great bargains to be had especially on the silver as I bought a fair bit of it before the prices increased - silver prices have skyrocketed in the past year.

Oh and I am doing the Henley Art Trail again this year - May 28th - 31st May 2011. Put the date in your diary and watch this space for more news.

Misty Moonlight

Finally we are slowly getting back into a routine in the Beady Pool household.
The now not so little man is at big school each morning, and is shattered but lovng it. This means I am getting a little more time to make and load some jewellery. Inbetween all the antenatal appointments which I seem to be having that is. Last week I had two lots of blood taken and a rather vicious anti-D injection - ouch!



On the jewellery front new from me is Misty Moonlight. Lampwork earrings in lushious lilac tones featuring artisan beads by Isabelle Anderson. Newly listed on Folksy.

Diary date
Beady Pool will be at the Music With Mummy Bracknell Coffee afternoon
Monday 27th Sept 1-3pm
Why not pop by for a cuppa, a piece of cake and some retail therapy?

Delphinium

I bought this stunning set of beads from Isabelle Anderson ages ago and made them into this set ages ago too.

However, as of yet I have never listed them on Folksy.

But, by the end of today they will all be uploaded and available to buy. Perfect for a summer wedding....if the sun comes out again that is ;)

And the reason I named these beads Delphinium...check out those gorgeous colours.Picture taken from http://gstuff.co.nz/shop/garden/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=210&zenid=31954b8c5ecf9c62baf1a878e2519e70

Destash

Like any jewellery maker I have a plethora of beads in my stash....far more than I will probably ever use.
With baby number two on the way, I can see me having a few month of jewellery down time until we all get back into a new routine. So, in preperation for this I am having a bit of a clear out.
To start with I have some gorgeous hilltribe silver and at BARGAIN prices.
I have had these lovlies around for a year or so and therefore bought them before the price of silver sky rocketed.

Now I can't list the UK online sellers where these are more expensive but you will find some of these beads elsewhere at about double the price of not more. As I said Bargain prices.

I will be lsiting more destash bits in the next couple of days but these are already available in my other Folksy Shop . So why not op on over and bag a silver bargain?

May

O SPRING has set off her green fuses

Down by the Tamar today,

And careless, like tide-marks, the hedges

Are bursting with almond and may.

Taken from ‘The Seasons in Cornwall’ by Charles Causley

from Collected Poems 1951-1997 published byMacmillan, 1992, ISBN 0333699211.

As a child I was given a book of poems by Charles Causley and this poem was in it. This first verse really sums up spring to me. One moment it's winter and the next the hawthorn (may) is sprouting lush green shoots and creamy white flowers. I didn't remember the poem properly hence why initially these pieces were called blackthorn...I remembered it as blackthorn and may. It was nearly 20years ago now when I first read it, well that's my excuse.So, why call these peices may?

Take a good look at the gorgeous lampwork beads by Rachel Dawes. We have the fantastic vibrant green of the new may leaf shoots, against the dark blacks and browns of the bark with the early flush of flowers emerging into the spring sunshine. As soon as I saw the beads that poem came to mind.

For those who wish to know, blackthorn (my original name for these pieces) is the sloe. Please correct me if I am wrong but the blackthorn flowers first and then gets leaves and the may (hawthorn) produces leaves and then flowers. A lot of the time we see blackthorn flowers and assume it is the may.

May is the common folk name for the hawthorn tree and the name has been used since the middle ages. Spring is coming earlier though each year as now we see may blossom in april instead of may.

The may bracelet and earrings are now available in the Beady Pool folksy shop.

Old Town

Remember those gorgeous grey toned lampwork beads from Lushlampwork ? Well here is what I made - oh and a pendant which I inadvertently forgot to photograph.
I will post that photo soon.

Old Town Bracelet

I found my love by the gasworks croft
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
Kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town, dirty old town.

Lyrics by Ewan MacColl

Old Town earrings

Both are available now in the Beady Pool Folksy shop.

I would love to know what you think of them, please leave any comments below.

Creme de Mure

And the gorgeous purple frit beads by Rachel Dawes became......

Creme de Mure earrings

Creme de Mure Necklace

Both are available now in the Beady Pool Folksy shop.

Damask

Remember those stunning signature artisan beads by Rebecca Weddell I showed you in the previous post? Those floral cerise beauties? Well here is what I have created using them.

Damask

I picked out the floral theme of the lampwork with a beautifully handmade Karen hilltribe Silver rose. Then I used ooodles of pink swarovski crystals and chunkier faceted rondelles in cerise pink to compliment the lampwork. These are interspersed with hilltribe silver tubes.

All finished with a hilltribe s-clasp and a handwired faceted crystal rondelle charm.
I am so pleased with how this has turned out and it's been nice making a necklace instead of a pendant for once.
Damask can be found in the Beady Pool folksy shop as can the complimenting Anemone earrings.

Today I have been making...

With these gorgeous lampwork beads.
A set of fritties from Rachel Dawes, I am loving the deep purples in these beads. I have been teaming them with faceted crystal beads and Karen Hilltribe daisy spacers. I've made two necklaces and a pair of earrings.

And a set of Rebecca Weddell's trademark floral beads - scrummy.

With these beads I have made a necklace with a Karen Hilltribe silver rose pendant and a pair of earrings which can already be found in the Beady Pool shop on Folksy. Photographs of the resulting jewellery coming soon.....

Starry Starry Night

How gorgeous are these lampwork beads?
Deep cores of the most stunning royal purple decorated with a milky way of silver stars and then encased in clear for extra sparkle and depth. They are made by the very talented Izzy Anderson over at Flame and Glass.

I have handwired them using silver wire with silver beads, faceted purple crystals and my favourite Karen Hilltribe silver daisy spacers. The earrings hang from sivler earwires.

The pendant features two lampwork spacers and three more crystals all handwired to silver wire dangling below the main focal bead. An eyecatching pendant with loads of movement. As per normal with Beady Pool pendants it comes on either a 16 or 18 inch silver snake chain.
Both are available to buy from the Beady Pool shop on Folksy.

Red Hot Polka Hearts

Just right for Valentines day.

Featuring artisan beads by Julie Fountain at Lush lampwork

Avaiable in the Beady Pool Folksy shop.

Either make some subtle hints, or why not just treat yourself?

Folksy Friday

Sometimes your jacket or cardi just needs a little, I don't know adding to. To me a brooch is the prefect way to do this. Here are a few of my favourites from Folksy.

Bookity makes some fab brooches with literary quotes. Check our her book handbags too as they are really unique.

Granny Ruth’s shop offers this stunning red rose and I will admit I have one adorning my new cardi.

I first saw these brooches from Applique Originals at Reveal before Christmas. In my mind the workmanship is amazing.

Finally this summery design caught my eye from Buttercup Boutique isn't it pretty?

Why not head over to Folksy and find some brooches of your own?

New on Folksy

Twilight
faceted smokey quartz and creamy frshwater pearls

Harebell
Purple glass beads delicately dangling from sterling silver chain

Both available from my Folksy shop.

Winning and Giving away

A few weeks ago, I entered a competition on Scarlett Butterflies blog and won. Below is a pic of the scrummy magnets I won and I have to say they are the strongest magnets on my fridge and are currently keeping all my little mans pics very firmly attached.

Go and check out Maria's shop as well, it is full of gorgeous girly gifts.

Well that's the winning, what about the giving I hear you shout??

I have decided it is time for another Beady Pool giveaway......but I can't decide what to give away. Should it be a bracelet, necklace, pendant or a pair of earrings??? I really can't decide.

So, as I can't decide - you can, this is what is up for grabs.

Either a bracelet and a pair of earrings, a pendant or a necklace along the theme of this and this. I don't have a pendant or bracelet to show you but they will be along the same theme of "He loves me". When you win, I will give you a choice of colours to choose from and I will then make your item and send it out. What more could you ask for?

So, what do you have to do??

Take a look around my website and my folksy shop and let me know which item you like the best and leave a comment below or on facebook or email it to me.

For a second chance to enter get a friend to either follow this blog or become a fan on facebook - let me know that they are your friend and you get another entry. Each new follower or fan is another entry.

Closing date is Saturday 31st October at 8pm.....so, what are you waiting for, get entering.

How cool are these.......

Now, I don't have a little girl so don't have a hair grip, hair band issue. You know the one where they go missing, where you can't find the matching pair etc. etc.

Well, I have just found a fab solution to this on Folksy. Aren't these just gorgeous?

There is a lovely long ribbon to attach all the clips to and behind the cupcake is room for the bands. To top this all off they are custom made with an initial of your choice. For little girls you can't ask more than that! Plus at £6 in my mind they are a good price, add a few grips/bobbles and what a fab pressie.

With a few birthdays and Christmas fast approaching, I have just put my order in for a few, well 5 actually :) Guess what everyone is getting from me this year.

If you would like one then take a look at Heart Felt Handmade's shop

She also makes some gorgeous tooth fairy pillows as well.